My album review

This week I will be reviewing one of my favorite Queen albums. Do not worry readers, I do listen to music other than Queen, but they are my favorite band and I have more of their albums than any other band, so I will write what I know.

I think it is time to start at the beginning. Yes, that's right, Queen's first, self-titled album.

This is a foreshadowing of all that Queen was destined to become. For a first album, it is bold and it pushes the envelope. Queen recorded this album in the recording studio during studio downtime, usually between 3 and 7 am.

Queen did not have an incredible amount of studio technology available to them at the time. In fact, many of the songs they had written at the time had to wait for other albums when more of the equipment was available to them.

Overall, this album is edgy for 1973 and very ahead of its time. It is so difficult to describe the intricate and layered sound of this record. It does not sound like a band's first album, it sounds like a mature and seasoned band who already knows what their sound is.

Here is the track-listing with comments:

1 - Keep Yourself Alive - Great opening track with a scratchy kind of rythm

2 - Doing All Right - This is an interesting song featuring dramatic changes from a smooth groove to a hard driving rock vamp.

3 - Great King Rat - A spanish influenced song with a very interesting drum part and complex guitar work.

4 - My Fairy King - A fantasy song and very strange. This song features some odd vocal work and strange syncopation work on piano. This was one of Freddie's strong suits as a pianist.

5 - Liar - This has been considered a precursor to Bohemian Rhapsody. This song has dynamic mood changes and very elaborate studio work. It is not nearly the level of BoRhap but you can surley see the ground work being laid down.

6 - The Night Comes Down - This is a much softer song and it has a beautiful melody. Freddie Mercury shows off his control and range of his falsetto.

7 - Modern Times Rock n' Roll - This is a song written and sung by the drummer, Rodger Taylor. It is the song on the album with the hardest sound, and that is saying a lot, especially in '73.

8 - Son and Daughter - This song has an almost Zeppelinesque riff featuring the bass and guitar.

9 - Jesus - This is a suprizingly not blasphemous song. It sounds like hard rock with a twinge of gospel vocals. Also Brian May has a flurry of scale runs in the solo section of this song. Makes my jaw drop every time.

10-Seven Seas of Rye - This is not what you are thinking, the song wasn't fully written at the time, this features a teaser of the song. The entire song Seven Seas of Rye was put on the second album. Which I will also be reviewing eventually.

Now time for my personal favorite tracks:

Doing All Right - Amazing contrast of soft and loud noises.


My Fairy King - This is a rare sounding song. This is an example of an absolutely complete concept it gets quite strange, but it shows amazing musical work considering the technology available to them.


Join me next time when I (hopefully) review something not Queen!